Alerts Sign-up
In the week spanning August 19 to 25, several airlines launched new routes and marked milestones, reflecting ongoing changes in global air travel.
flyadeal, the low-cost subsidiary of Saudia, began new services from Riyadh to Peshawar and Islamabad on August 24. Each route will operate twice weekly. The airline’s CEO, Steven Greenway, previously described flyadeal’s approach: "We’re a bus. That’s what we are. We are unashamedly a bus.” He also noted that international passengers currently account for about 20% of the carrier's traffic but expects this to rise to 35% by year-end. The addition of these Pakistani routes is intended to support this growth target. Another planned route from Dammam to Karachi was scheduled for August 25 but has since been removed from schedules. Riyadh-Sialkot flights began on August 26 with three weekly frequencies.
Alaska Airlines entered the Phoenix Sky Harbor–San Diego International market on August 20, offering three daily mainline flights. This move makes Alaska the fourth airline on this short-haul route—joining Southwest, American, and Frontier—and marks the first time since 2003 that four carriers have operated simultaneously between these cities. During Alaska's first week in the market, there were a total of 118 one-way flights among all four airlines.
